Friday, April 5, 2013

Jackson and WendellNorth Shore Animal League America reported yesterday that Jackson, the cat who was rescued from bullies by Wendell Overton, has found his forever home.Jackson's story garnered national attention last month, after news of the brave 10-year-old, who saved the cat from being tortured by a group of young boys, went viral. Overton had already been watching out for the black and white kitty around the neighborhood, and courageously stepped in when he encountered three youngsters, some as young as five, throwing the cat in the air, running him over with their bikes, and squirting energy drinks in his face.Since the incident, Jackson has recovered from his minor injuries, and has been awaiting adoption from the Outer Banks SPCA in Manteo, N.C. After 13 days with no approved applications, the shelter was at capacity, and needed to find homes for Jackson and sixteen other cats, as soon as possible. Jackson with a NSAL staff member after the transportFortunately, North Shore Animal League America stepped in, and worked with the shelter as part of their national humane relocation program, to transport Jackson, along with the other cats, to their headquarters in Port Washington, N.Y.The relocated kitties were available for adoption yesterday, and Jackson was one of the first to find his forever home. He was claimed by a couple named Joe and Jen, who already have one special needs cat named Forest. Like Jackson, Forest was also nursed back to health after being the victim of abuse. According to an update on the NSAL Facebook page, Forest was sad after the recent loss of his feline friend, and the couple wanted to find a new companion for him. "I had been following the story and I was so happy to hear I could adopt Jackson! I'm still processing it all. I now feel like this was meant to be. I thank Wendell so much for saving Jackson. He will be loved by us forever," Jen said. Adopted!As for their part, Outer Banks SPCA now credits Wendell not only with saving Jackson's life, but with saving sixteen other lives as well:"I know a lot of his Wendell's fans were disappointed that his family was not able to adopt Jackson, but do to health issues within his family, this was not an option. We were surprised that we were not flooded with applicants for Jackson but this just shows us that things work out for a reason. Because of the bravery and compassion of Wendell, we have a new partnership with the nation's largest no kill animal shelter leading to seventeen animals saved in the first trip and countless more to come!Our warmest thank you to the NSAL and to Margaret Cunzio for transporting these seventeen cats to New York on Easter Sunday, but our biggest thank you goes out to Wendell, who is now responsible for saving seventeen animals in one day!THANK YOU WENDELL!!!"